In Iran’s shadow, Pak rediscovers gratitude for its N-bomb
By MNS
As Pakistanis watched Iran reel from devastating airstrikes during its war with Israel, many found a renewed appreciation for their country’s nuclear deterrent
SITUATIONER
June 25, 2025
AT one point or another, most Pakistanis have lamented the country’s chronic failures in governance. The education sector remains underfunded and poorly managed, with millions of children out of school and the standard of instruction in public institutions alarmingly low. Healthcare fares little better — rural clinics are scarce, urban hospitals are overwhelmed, and preventable diseases continue to take lives.
The economy, too, has been in perpetual turmoil. Inflation, currency depreciation, and an ever-mounting debt burden have necessitated repeated bailouts from the International Monetary Fund. These persistent crises have reinforced public perceptions of Pakistan’s political leadership — past and present — as inept, corrupt, or both.
Yet, in the shadow of the recent 12-day war between Iran and Israel, many Pakistanis have begun to reassess what their country has managed to achieve. Chief among these is the development of a nuclear deterrent — an undeniable marker of strategic self-reliance.
Iran’s suffering, broadcast in real time, was stark. Israeli air raids struck with devastating precision, crippling military infrastructure and killing senior commanders. Tehran’s retaliatory capacity appeared limited, and the Iranian people endured waves of air strikes, power outages, and widespread panic. Despite its regional influence and ideological steadfastness, Iran seemed ill-prepared for the full force of a technologically superior adversary.
Watching from afar, many Pakistanis found themselves drawing sobering comparisons. For all of Pakistan’s economic and social challenges, one enduring achievement has arguably spared it from similar devastation: its nuclear weapons programme.
This realisation has led to a rare moment of national introspection. The nuclear deterrent — often politicised or taken for granted — is being acknowledged anew as a critical component of Pakistan’s survival in a volatile neighbourhood.
Credit for this deterrent spans across ideological and institutional divides. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto famously warned that if India developed a nuclear weapon, Pakistan would “eat grass” if necessary to match it. Following India’s 1974 nuclear test, Bhutto laid the political and scientific groundwork for Pakistan’s own programme.
Key figures such as Ghulam Ishaq Khan, a discreet yet influential bureaucrat, ensured continuity of the project through various political transitions. As finance minister and later head of the Atomic Energy Commission, he quietly facilitated both funding and scientific cooperation.
General Ziaul Haq, despite his controversial legacy, maintained support for the programme throughout his military rule. Benazir Bhutto, facing immense international pressure during her premierships, refrained from curtailing the effort, recognising its strategic imperative.
Nawaz Sharif’s decision to conduct nuclear tests in May 1998, in response to India’s own, was a pivotal moment. Despite fierce opposition from the so-called peace lobby and mounting global pressure, he opted for demonstration over de-escalation — a move now seen by many as a defining assertion of sovereignty.
And then there is Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the metallurgist and engineer whose name became synonymous with Pakistan’s nuclear capability. Though his legacy remains clouded by certain controversies, many continue to revere him as the “father of the Pakistani bomb.
The recent Iranian experience has revived an unsettling question for Pakistanis: what if we had never built the bomb? Would the country have endured similar air strikes, assassinations, or breaches of sovereignty? Would India, a larger and better-equipped adversary, have acted with greater impunity?
This moment of reflection is not driven by nationalism or aggression. Rather, it is a measured recognition of the brutal arithmetic of global power. Iran’s vulnerability has shown that even a strong conventional force can falter in the absence of a credible deterrent. For Pakistan, beset by regional tensions and internal instability, nuclear weapons have served — however grimly — as a shield against full-scale war.
It is an uncomfortable truth that the country’s most significant success may lie not in eradicating poverty, delivering justice, or educating every child — but in acquiring the most destructive weapons known to mankind. Yet, in a world where might often makes right, even Pakistan’s most disillusioned citizens are beginning to express a reluctant gratitude.
Even amid national dysfunction, they are pausing to acknowledge a rare and consequential success story — and the diverse cast of political leaders, scientists, and soldiers who made it possible.